What Happened With Charlie
by labarredesavon
Summary: I always thought that 'need to know' was too open an ending, so I decided to close it. Bella and the Cullens give Charlie some closure. BD Continuation, true to books, 16,618 words - don't let that put you off . Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

BELLA'S POV

It was pretty much a typical day in the Cullen household. I was playing chess with Jasper, Alice was designing a new outfit of some sort on a computer in the next room, Rosalie and Emmett were on yet another honeymoon, Carlisle was at the hospital, and Jacob, Esme and Nessie were hunting. Edward was playing the piano, Tchaikovsky today. He smiled at me as he saw me watching him.

It was thirty-four years after the Volturi had left, and life was wonderful. We had, obviously, moved from Forks a while ago, and had several different lives since then. Right now, I was Esme's sister, living with her, her husband, and his adopted children. All of us except Carlisle and Esme were at high school, yet again.

Unfortunately, the fact that we were a good few states out of Washington, D.C. meant that Charlie, now 75, couldn't visit us as easily now: we were a long way away from Forks. This meant we were the ones visiting Charlie nowadays, not the other way around. And since not one of the ultra-fast vampires in the Cullen family could be bothered taking a car trip for that long, because we were so much faster than any car, we would often run the whole way to Forks. Which, as we all thought, was a pretty great arrangement. Of course, this freaked Charlie out a little, but he'd frequently been amazed by the Cullens; he was pretty much used to it now.

Speaking of running to Forks, I'd been planning to go to Forks today; it was Sue's birthday and I knew she would have wanted me to be there. She _was_ my stepmother now, after all.

Deep in thought as I was, it wasn't much of a disadvantage for my vampire mind. I flicked Jasper's queen off the board with my knight.

'Checkmate.' I grinned.

'Damn. Well, that ties our scores up.', Jasper said, grinning back.

'An excellent place to quit,' I said.

'Agreed.'

Picking myself up off the floor with fluid grace as he swept the pieces back into the box, I started:

'Jasper, Alice, Edward? Today's Sue's birthday.'

'I know.', said Edward, suddenly next to me and holding my hand.

'Do you guys want to come with me to Forks? I was thinking of just going to the party for a couple of hours, singing, hugging, that sort of thing. It would mean a lot to the both of them, I'm sure.'

'Of course we'll come.', said Jasper from beside me. I didn't need a response from Edward: if I was going, then he would want to go with me.

Alice smiled. 'Well, I'd better come, seeing as how I've already got her a present!'

I rolled my eyes at her. Typical Alice - I didn't have her gift for seeing the future, but I probably should have known that one was coming.

'Brilliant. I'd better go and grab Ness, Jake, and Esme, then. They'll want to come too. See you here in a minute?'

'Great.'

I set off towards the forest.

One minute and forty-three seconds later, we were all running to Forks. Alice had a huge package - about three feet long and heavy-looking (for a human, anyway) in her arms, wrapped in bright colours with a gaudy bow. She was supporting it easily, of course. Everyone in the Cullen family except Carlisle (it was just past New Year: he was too busy at the hospital, though he said to pass on his good wishes), Emmett, and Rosalie, was coming. Alice and Nessie were probably the most excited of the group: Alice, because she loved parties and giving gifts, Nessie, because she loved seeing her grandfather.

We arrived at Forks nineteen minutes and forty-nine seconds later, a little windswept. Returning to a human pace, Edward rang the doorbell. A short, dark-skinned girl with wild curly hair and blue eyes answered.

'Hi, Bella!'

I grinned. Alicia was my stepsister, Charlie and Sue's daughter; she was nearly twenty-eight, with a very bubbly personality. She had the slightly annoying habit of treating me like a younger sister - off by twenty-three years - but she was a lovely, genuine, energetic person on the whole, and she took a lot after Sue. She knew there was something up with us, of course, but she'd seen it all her life and it didn't really faze her.

'Hi, Alicia, how are you?'

'Good, thanks. Mum's in the kitchen making coffee, Dad, Seth, and Leah have gone out to get the cake: it wasn't like he was going to bake it himself!' Too true. 'Hi, everyone! Alice, do you want some help carrying that in?'

She said all of this very fast.

'No thanks, Alicia, I've got Jasper, he'll help me.' She added under her breath, so that only we could hear, 'I've carried this across a couple of states, I'm sure I could manage the front door.'

'Okay. Well, come in! Charlie'll be happy to see you.'

'Thanks.' Alice and Jasper, making a great show of manoeuvring the package onto the doorstep and over the threshold, entered, followed by the rest of us.

'Happy birthday, Sue!', said Esme as we entered, and we echoed her.

'Oh, hi, everyone. How are you?' Sue wasn't as comfortable around the Cullens as her daughter, seeing as she knew that there was something up with us - and she'd been married to Harry Clearwater, who wasn't exactly a huge fan of vampires (not that she actually knew that that was what we were). Edward had assured all of us long ago, though, that she was fine with it and was fine with not knowing. The fact that we were often accompanied by Jacob helped, too.

Charlie walked into the door then, carrying a huge cardboard box.

'Hi, everyone! Hi Bella! Was wondering if you'd show up!'

'Of course I did, Dad,' I said, hugging him. 'How are you?'

'Good, good. How's everything with the Cullens?'

'Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.'

He looked happy at that. Nessie walked up to him with a 'Hi Grampa!' and hugged him; so did Esme and Alice. Edward and Jasper shook hands with him.

Meanwhile, Seth Clearwater had ambled up behind his mother with a smile. He'd started aging again twenty years ago, and was now married with two children.

He was followed by his sister, Leah, who had never liked vampires and never really stopped giving us sideways glances, but had sort of accepted the Cullens' occasional presence. She'd imprinted on her yoga instructor a year ago and had recently 'de-wolfed', as Edward had told me she thought of it. She'd become a lot nicer in recent years, too.

After many more greetings, we'd all crammed into the kitchen and just talked for a while. When we'd all finished gossiping, we headed into the lounge and started to open presents. Alice had bought a beautiful new wooden coffee table, which Edward had heard in her mind she'd wanted, and then there were the usuals: chocolates, socks, a new raincoat (well, he did live in Forks), and a couple of bunches of flowers. Sue cut the cake and we ate it (it was a beautiful cake, but of course it looked disgusting to all of the vampires in the room. We all passed Jacob our portions under the table when no-one else was looking and he ate them all for us) and we sat, talking, for a while.

Edward was in the middle of talking about his life at university (a story that was true for approximately 70 years ago), when he suddenly broke off. I looked at him in alarm; he was staring at Alice, whose face was a familiar expression of complete blankness: she was having a vision of the future. I started to panic, but then stopped: we needed to keep up our human charade. I kicked Edward under the table.,

'Is it naptime already, Edward?' I said in a teasing tone, using a phrase that Edward himself had once used to bring Alice back down to earth.

'Sorry,' he said, and, with a slight grimace you wouldn't detect if you didn't know his features all that well, continued with his story.

I muttered to Alice, who had come out of her reverie, 'What did you see?'

She shook her head slightly. 'Later.'

I was instantly worried, but managed to make it through another half hour (26 minutes and 39 seconds: I had to count to keep myself sane) before we said our goodbyes to everyone and departed. We started running as soon as we were around the corner, and I immediately turned to Alice.

'What was it?'

She shook her head again.

'That bad?'

She nodded, and said no more.

Edward's face was full of pity and sadness. I was so worried. What would happen? What was so bad that Alice wouldn't just tell me?

There were so many things. I went through countless different scenarios in my head - thankfully we got back to the house quickly.

I flitted into the lounge and sat down. Jacob and Nessie needed to sleep; they would find out about whatever this was in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Edward put his arms around me. He knew what I was about to hear.

Jasper and Alice sat down slowly and deliberately in front of me. I looked at her, eyebrows raised.

'Alice. What is it?'

She seemed unsure of what to say.

'Just tell her, Alice', said Edward.

'Tell me what?' I said, getting exasperated now.

Alice shut her eyes. 'Bella... I'm so sorry. I saw Charlie...' I took a sharp breath; Edward held me tighter. '... I saw him having a heart attack a week from now. After he goes to hospital, he'll... die of another, stronger heart attack a day later.'

It was strange, the clarity of that statement. No holds barred.

I registered that as I sat there. I was still and silent for almost ten minutes, in a state of absolute shock. I couldn't feel anything.

Charlie. Oh, Charlie. No, no, no...

I'd always known, of course, that having my parents die would be something I'd have to accept: even if I wasn't a vampire, it was something I was going to have to face someday. But to have it told bluntly to me like that...

My father had only a week and a day to live.

I shut my eyes; it was almost unconsciously that I ripped free of Edward's arms, got up, and ran. I didn't know where I was going, I didn't even register their reactions: I just ran in a straight line, suddenly stopped in the middle of the forest, and curled up in a ball. Knowing when and how my father was going to die...

I stayed there for a while, not moving in the slightest, and I gradually overcame the state of shock I was in. Time started to mean something to me again. The deja vu of this - curled up in the forest, in shock - didn't escape me either.

The shock gave way to misery, and I became overcome by a sudden wave of sadness. I ran furiously back to the Cullen household: having escaped from Edward's arms earlier, I wanted nothing more than to be in them right now.

Seconds later, I was in our bedroom back at the house. He was there, waiting for me; his black eyes carried so much sympathy for my pain. His pain.

'I'm so sorry, Bella.'

I nodded weakly, and climbed into his arms and, finally, started to cry. He held me close that night, just held me, and I cried until I calmed down. By then, it was morning.

I turned to face him.

'Oh, God...'

'I know, Bella. I know.'

I sat there, silent. I was still feeling unbelievable grief and pain, but now I was thinking about what I was going to do next. I felt, absurdly, like a contestant on a quiz show with only a few lifelines next. Use them wisely, Bella. You have eight days left. Use your eight days wisely.

I turned to Edward.

'What are you thinking?' he asked me.

I pulled the shield off my mind and showed him what I was thinking. Basically: spend as much time as possible with him in the next few weeks. But there was something else, another idea, brewing...

'Yes, that could work,' he murmured into my collarbone. 'But we'll need to do it at the last minute... keep it quiet...'

'I know.' I said, and, slowly sat up.

'Are you ready to get up yet?' he asked. I nodded.

We dressed and headed downstairs, where everyone was sitting, all looking sad and quite worried, too. Well, who could blame them? I'd been out for a day and a half.

Esme had her arms around me in a second. 'Bella...'

I felt like crying again, but I held it together. Everyone else in the Cullen family came and hugged me, offered condolences.

Carlisle turned to Alice. 'Would it make any difference if I...'

'No. It was one of the most solid visions I've ever had. Nothing about it is going to change.' She turned to me. 'I'm so, so sorry, Bella. And sorry that I had to be the one to tell you.'

I nodded. 'It's fine, Alice, you can't help seeing some things. And... I think I'd rather know, anyway.'

Nessie asked, in a trembling voice, 'So... Grampa's really going to die?'

'Yes.' I said, wishing it wasn't true. That I could tell her it was all going to be fine, her grandfather was going to live... but I couldn't...

Trembling, she disappeared into Jacob's arms. He seemed to be at a loss for what to say.

I shook my head, clearing it. I needed to go, needed to spend as much time with my father as humanly - well, maybe not humanly - possible within the next week.

'Come on, Edward, Ness, Jacob. Let's go and pack.'

They just nodded and didn't question that shat statement. They must have had similar plans to mine.

Ten minutes later - it took so long because I fell to pieces again, briefly, when I saw the sweater set I'd worn at graduation - we were in the running to Charlie's with large packs on our backs.

Edward gripped my hand tightly the whole way there.


	3. Chapter 3

We arrived at the house in even less time than it had taken yesterday (could it have been only yesterday?), not even going at much of a humanlike pace once we rounded the corner this time.

Charlie opened the door, looking a little confused.

I couldn't help it: I threw myself at him, hugging him as tightly as I dared.

'Well, hey, Bella...' he said. 'What's all this?'

'Well, Dad...' I said, bringing to the fore the explanation I had concocted as we'd been running. 'It's spring break at the moment, and I just thought that maybe I could stay here... for a while, maybe a week or so? I've missed you, missed this house, so much, I only just realised it yesterday. We won't be any trouble, I promise, and we'll only stay if it's alright with Sue.'

Well, it wasn't a brilliant reason, but Charlie loved seeing us, especially Nessie, any chance he got. We hadn't been seeing him that often since we'd moved away from Forks nearly thirty-one years ago now. And Sue loved us in her own way, even if she was a bit scared of us. We'd be able to stay, I didn't need the assurance Alice had given me to know that.

'Well, sure, okay.', Charlie said, a smile lighting up his features - he always looked so handsome when he smiled. 'We'd love to have you.'

'Thanks, Dad.' I smiled back, giving him another hug.

Nessie walked up to Charlie and hugged him, as well. She hadn't quite regained full control over herself, but Edward would know if she was about to start crying again. Obviously, we couldn't have Charlie knowing anything was up, especially when that involved his... death. I cringed internally.

'Well, come in, I guess.' Charlie's utter lack of knowledge about hosting guests hadn't changed a bit in the last thirty-four years. 'We'll have to find places for you to sleep, though.'

I smiled: that probably wasn't going to be a problem. Only two of us actually needed sleep, after all.

'Well, maybe I could have the couch, and Ness could have Alicia's old bedroom.', Jacob suggested. Alicia's old bedroom was actually my old bedroom, too; she'd grown up with a love of the classics because she'd grown up reading the many dog-eared novels I'd left behind when I'd moved out of it.

'Well, where are Bella and Edward going to go, then?', Charlie said with a furtive glance at both of us. The fact that we'd been married for thirty-five years probably didn't make the idea of us sleeping together any easier for him: a quick glance at Edward's face told me I was right.

'We might split up or something: one in each room. We'll find somewhere, don't worry about us.' This obviously appeased Charlie, I noted with a small smile.

'So where's Sue?' I asked him when we'd made our way into the lounge.

'Upstairs, sleeping. She's tired after yesterday. I was watching the match before you came. It's only just started, but I could turn it off if you'd like to-'

'No, Charlie, that's fine, honestly.'

'Well, okay. If you're sure.'

I nodded, and he sat down and watched the television. Edward sat next to me on the couch: he watched my face while I watched Charlie's. I focused on only him, committing every single detail of him I could register to memory: his face, the way he sat, smelled, the way he watched the screen intently with the brown eyes of my daughter, the smile he gave when his side scored a goal, even the way his blood smelled, though it burned my throat. I resolved to go and hunt later...

The match had finished, and Charlie turned to me now. He spoke, and I memorized the sound of his voice as he did:

'Well, darn.'

Edward smiled from next to me: I hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention to the game, he was going to have to be the one to talk about it. 'Well, at least it was close. It's a shame they lost, though; they did deserve to win.'

'Mmmn, it was quite close a couple of times there. Would you like anything to eat? Drink?' It was glaringly obvious that he was at a loss for what to do with us. We had turned from family into guests, I registered sadly; we hadn't seen him enough over the past years.

'No thanks, Charlie, not for me.' Edward made similar comments (Charlie didn't seem surprised in the slightest over this) while Ness asked for a glass of water and Jacob for some leftover birthday cake, to much eye-rolling from the rest of us. While we were all eating, Sue came down the stairs, fully dressed but bleary-eyed: she'd just woken up.

'Hi, all of you - well, this is a surprise!' She was clearly thoroughly confused, but rather pleased too.

Jacob gave her the story this time.

'Well, Sue, we were all thinking we don't see you enough, and I certainly need to see more of Billy and everyone at La Push. So when the holidays started today, we all decided to come down and see you. I know that the notice we gave you probably couldn't be shorter, but is it okay if we stay here for a while, maybe a week? We won't be any trouble. Charlie's already said it's okay.'

'Sure.', she said happily, and set about helping herself to some of the birthday cake still left on the bench. 'Did you have anything in mind for what you wanted to do while you're here? Maybe we should all go and see Billy, like you said. I haven't seen him in a while.'

'Sounds great.', said Jacob.

Well, I didn't actually think everyone at La Push was going to welcome us over the boundary line with open arms. We'd established a peaceful relationship with the wolves, but there was no way that it would stretch that far.

'Bella and I might stay behind if you're going to La Push, and get everything set up here.' Edward said, evidently having similar thoughts.

'Cool.' said Jacob. 'I'll drive.'

They left in a few minutes: I sighed and watched them as they went.

About five minutes later, Edward and I, alone in the empty house, made love for a while, and then talked about what was going to happen while Charlie was in hospital. After we had exhausted that topic, I stood up and got dressed, slightly unwillingly.

He looked at me with slightly confused eyes.

'I'll need to stop being this thirsty if I'm going to be in a house with two humans for a week. Now's a good time to head into the forest and hunt.'

'Mmmn...' he said, rolling over and getting dressed himself. He kissed me for a minute, and we leapt lightly out the open window (more fun than going out the door), and I led Edward through the forest until we reached our old home, the beautiful white mansion surrounded by forest. We stood there and just watched it for a while, remembering. We hadn't been able to sell it - no-one wanted to live in the Cullen house - so it sat, poignantly bare and empty, like a haunted house. Like the sort of place vampires would belong. I giggled a little at that as we veered left, over the river, and started to hunt.

There were a few deer out in the woods today. Nothing especially good - but just as I was about finished, I caught the scent of a giant grizzly bear, quite close. Perfect. I drank deeply - the carnivorous blood was so much sweeter than the deer - and I stopped after that, quite full. Almost uncomfortably so. Edward joined me sixteen seconds later, his eyes a very beautiful light gold now, and laughed when he saw me. Looking down, I saw why: a gigantic spit up the side of my jeans, where the grizzly must have got me when I wasn't paying attention. Well, darn.

'Well, we'll need to find you a new pair of jeans before Charlie gets home.', he said, running his hand up my now-exposed leg. Mmmm.

'Well,' I agreed, 'he might wonder how my jeans got ripped when I was only meant to be unpacking clothing...'

I consulted my watch: it was 1:58. Probably not long to go now before he got home. I flicked my cellphone open and dialled Alice's number as we speeded off back to Charlie and Sue's, my jean leg flapping wildly. She answered on the second ring.

'Hi, Bella.'

'Hi, Alice. Two things: one, how long have I got before Charlie gets home?'

'Just under a minute.'

'Okay.' Plenty of time, we would hardly have to hurry at all. 'Two, I just wanted you to know, a giant grizzly wrecked my jeans.'

'Bella! Those were Banana Republic! Be a bit more careful! Do you have any idea-'

I shut the phone, laughing. We were back by now. Edward and I sped upstairs to unpack Nessie's and my clothes - we could hear Charlie's car, about forty-six seconds away. I put on a pair of similar jeans, hiding the old pair. Then I headed downstairs and unpacked Jacob and Edward's suitcases, and made up a bed on the couch for Jacob and on the floor for Edward. With five seconds to spare, we sat at the table and relaxed, grinning at one another.

'Hi, kids.' Charlie stepped through the door, followed by Jacob, Ness, and Sue. 'Looks good, hope it didn't take you too long to set up.'

'No, not long at all.' I couldn't suppress a giggle, but an old and rather deaf Charlie couldn't hear it anyway. Jacob and Nessie were grinning behind Charlie's back.

'So, how was La Push?' I asked. 'Did you go to the beach, or was it raining too hard?'

'No, it was only drizzling, but we just caught up with Billy anyway. He was ecstatic to see Jacob, I could tell.'

Jacob nodded, smiling. He hadn't seen much of his father himself lately.

Sue added 'We saw Seth while we were there, as well. He's coming over the day after tomorrow with Hannah and the kids.'

I was happy at that - Seth was really nice and a good friend of ours. It would be good to catch up with him.

We gossiped for a while longer about happenings down at La Push, and then Charlie and Sue made their excuses and headed upstairs for another nap. Jacob and Nessie went out to hunt together, Nessie was thinking along similar lines to me about co-habiting with humans for a week: they had a good laugh at my expense over the jeans before they left, however.

I flicked open my phone again: I had a call from Alice. She chewed me out for a while over the jeans, which apparently were very hard to find and something she was actually planning on letting me wear more than once. Once that particular tirade was over, she then asked me how things were going and updated me on how things were over at the Cullen house. Emmett and Rosalie were back, apparently very happy after their honeymoon (well, that wasn't much of a surprise) until they'd heard the news. They'd both asked Alice to pass on their messages of how sorry they were about Charlie.

After getting off the phone with Alice (this took over an hour. We were talking quite fast, but Alice had a lot to say, of course), Nessie and Jacob were back. We talked for a while, and then it was 6:20 and Edward put the dinner on, to much nose wrinkling by the two of us. And Ness, actually; she was quite full. Charlie and Sue arrived downstairs, awoken by the smell and the sizzling, and we ate dinner (Edward and I tossed our dinner under the table to Jacob again). We watched the news, then the night's feature film ('Dracula', a source of much hilarity from the vampire couch) and everyone went to bed. Of course, Edward and I met up in the kitchen after everyone was asleep: we did exactly what Charlie thought wouldn't happen due to our separation. We watched the light of the moon in the milky twilight, and then, after a while, I turned and headed upstairs. Edward followed me.

I'd had fun today, being with my father: it wasn't like old times, but I'd started to fulfil my purpose in being here, which was to see my father and be with him again in his last week. But I wanted to be able to watch him, to get as many memories of him from him in this time. So I headed into the bedroom where he slept, and proceeded to watch him, peaceful, sleeping.

The deja vu of the situation didn't escape me, either: I remembered dimly many nights when I'd been the one sleeping and Edward had been the vampire watching me, watching over me. I opened my mind to him as I watched my father, bringing the dim memories of my time with him in my bedroom down the hall; when he used to jump in the window, hum my lullaby to send me off to sleep, his cold body against mine...

I felt him smile in the darkness, his arms wrapping around me. I sighed, and turned back to my father.

Age had changed him, of course His skin was sagging, wrinkly; his heartbeat was a little fainter, his hair white, his body plump - but he was still my father, still Charlie, still here, breathing peacefully, so wonderful. It was hard, looking at him, to know all of it would be gone within a week.

I watched him all night. He smiled as he slept.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day rolled along nicely, peacefully: it was a Sunday, so Charlie went fishing in the morning and I accompanied him (he seemed rather surprised, and I couldn't blame him: the last time I'd been taken fishing, I'd nearly knocked myself out with the fishing pole and taken his eye out with the hook - needless to say, it went more smoothly this time). We all went out and saw a film in the afternoon, had dinner, and then I watched Charlie sleep again all night.

The next day, Seth came around. We had a nice time catching up on non-supernatural-related manners, like his beautiful daughters, Hazel and Catherine, and how his career as a vet was coming along. However, when all the humans were out of earshot - playing with his kids in the lounge - we discussed more wolfy matters in low voices.

Quil and Claire had married 20 years ago (around the time Quil stopped aging), and they had a son, Quil III, who was, lately, showing a bit of an increased temperature, but he hadn't phased yet. There weren't vampires around that much anymore, after all. Sam and Emily had had a daughter, Marie, and Sam had also stopped phasing. Paul and Rebecca (Jacob's sister - she'd been a bit bemused to see me as a vampire after growing up with her as a human, but was nice enough about everything overall) had married, and Paul had just stopped phasing yet. Embry hadn't imprinted, and was still a wolf: no change there. And, of course, we'd heard about what was going on with Leah. I was glad she was finally happy.

After Seth had finished with his stories, he looked at me, slightly expectant. Edward sighed from next to me, hearing the question in his mind. I raised my eyebrows.

'Okay, here it is,' said Seth. 'Why are you here? I know you guys aren't at college at the moment, and I have a gut feeling you're not here purely because you wanted to see Mom and Charlie. What made you come here? It's fine if you can't tell me, but I'd like to know.'

Edward and I looked at each other. How were we going to handle this one?

I turned to Seth and asked: 'Are you sure you want that question answered?'

He frowned, and echoed what I'd said the other night. 'That bad?'

'Really bad.'

His frown deepened, but he looked decided. 'I still want to know.'

I took a deep breath. 'At Sue's birthday party, Alice saw... she saw Charlie having a heart attack, five days from now.' Seth squeezed his eyes shut; he'd figured out the ending. 'After another day in hospital, he has another, stronger heart attack, and he- he-'

I couldn't get the word out.

Seth was stunned: he hadn't expected that. 'Oh, no...'

But before he could continue, Hannah, his wife, walked in. She was a lovely person, but she had very limited knowledge of the world of vampires and werewolves. 'What happened? Why do you all look like someone's just died?'

What a thing to say. We all became very tight-lipped: I was barely holding onto control. Edward started to say 'Noth-', but before I know it, Charlie and Sue came in. I quickly reassembled my face, and we all brushed it off. Hannah said: 'Uh, it's time to go, Seth.' He just nodded. As he walked out, he murmured 'I'm so sorry, Bella,' under his breath. He knew I could hear.

'Thankyou.' I murmured back.

They left, Seth shaking his head. I turned and joined Charlie in the lounge.

The next few days passed in much the same way; different things happened, time passed. I watched Charlie every night.

And then came Saturday. I didn't know what to do, how to proceed. Alice had told me everything would start falling apart, essentially, at around half-past ten. I just stood and talked with him, trying so hard to seem like nothing was wrong, pretending everything was fine.

Charlie had been so happy, these past few years. After my mother had left, he'd never really gotten over her: his job as the Chief of Police had been his wife and family for so long. But he'd remarried, had a daughter, gotten on with his life. And everything had been so good for him. What was going to happen now, to everyone?

His time was running out. I started panicking, wondering how I was going to cope with what I was planning on doing next. And how was everyone else going to cope with all of this? Alicia, Sue, Leah...

And then it happened. At 10:28 that morning, he started to look a bit odd, rubbed his arm a little. I heard his heart's abnormal rhythm, and that was all that was needed. I immediately dialled 911.

The ambulance arrived, and I had to leave The doctors wouldn't let me in if I wasn't family, and it was a small town and the doctors would know Charlie and who was his family, so they wouldn't believe me if I told them who I was. I sat at the house: I had told Sue I'd wait for Jacob and Nessie, who had gone to La Push for a swim, as they departed in the ambulance. When they had gone, I threw myself onto the table and cried, tearlessly, like I'd never stop. Edward just sat there next to me, holding my hand. He looked like he could have cried himself.

Our plan, the second part to what I'd figured out when I was back in the Cullen house, was to wait until nightfall, when everyone was asleep, and then tell him. Tell him everything. I owed him that much, at least, for everything I had put him through in the past thirty-five years. The Volturi wouldn't be able to complain, either: he'd be dead soon, no matter what.

Soon enough, he wouldn't be able to tell anyone

So, we waited. We waited and watched, and then left at ten o'clock, about half a minute before Sue was due to come home. It was a little under twelve hours since everything had gone badly wrong (not that Sue knew of, though. The doctors were keeping him in for monitoring, as far as she was aware), the four of us leapt out the window and ran to the hospital.


	5. Chapter 5

We'd arrived. Edward and I jumped through the window, closely followed by Jacob and Nessie. Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, and Carlisle and Esme were already standing round the room, with sad and somewhat final faces. They had all wanted to come, to say goodbye. They all loved Charlie, too.

'Bella...' Esme said, hugging me. This was the comfort of a mother, and I could have stayed in her arms for so long, but I had to do this. I hugged her back for a while, then released her and shook Charlie awake.

He woke slowly: he must have been tired. But for now, he was fine. He would be fine to listen to what I would say next... and then, I thought, he wouldn't be anywhere near fine.

'Charlie?'

He shook his head and sat up, slowly. 'Bella...?' He looked around the room. 'Alice... Carlisle... Jasper... what's going on?' His heart sped up: I looked at Jasper and a measure of calm and peace spread through the room. It didn't just help Charlie: we all relaxed. I smiled gratefully at him, and he smiled back. 'What's going on?' he said, stronger this time.

I spoke.

'Charlie... I've been thinking about this, and I've decided that I need to tell you what happened to me thirty-four years ago. All of this... I owe it to you to tell you what actually happened to me after I married Edward, and long before that. But only if you want to know...?'

He hesitated. 'Yes. I know that I said I wanted to keep it need-to-know, but I never stopped wondering... Why now, though?'

'You'll see.' And when he did, I didn't know what would happen. But there was a lot to tell, and I wouldn't have enough time unless I started now. 'But, what I tell you, you can't tell anyone else. Absolutely no one that isn't a part of this story can know.

Okay, I'm going to start from the start.' This was it.

'When I first moved to Forks - '

'It started that early?' he asked.

'Yes.

When I first moved here, my first day of school was pretty average until straight after lunch, in Biology. I'd seen the Cullens at lunch, of course, and Edward was in fourth-period Biology with me. When I walked in, though, his face went from impassive to completely furious. I didn't know what would make him hate me so quickly... I made my mind up to go and confront him about it, but the next day he wasn't there: he didn't show up for weeks.

But he eventually came to class again, perfectly civil. His eyes had changed colour, as well.' Charlie nodded: he'd noticed that about us. His face was carefully expectant.

'The next day, though, was the day with all that ice... I never did thank you for putting those chains on my tyres, did I? Anyway... you know the most of the story. But the truth actually contained two other details: Edward, a second before the crash, was over on the other side of the parking lot. And when Tyler's van hit my truck, he lifted the van off me.' Charlie's eyes widened. 'I confronted him about it later, but he just told me I was hallucinating, then proceeded to ignore me for another few weeks. He told me it was better if we weren't friends; that he was the villain, dangerous.'

Edward squeezed my hand.

'I went down to the bonfire at La Push that weekend, and Sam said something about the Cullens not coming to La Push, only it sounded more like they weren't welcome there than anything.

So I went for a walk with Jacob, trying rather ineptly to flirt-' the whole room laughed, Jacob looking slightly sheepish '- and I got him to tell me some stories, old legends of his tribe. He told me one about the 'cold ones' that were the enemies of the werewolf - because they had been known to kill humans.' I was staring at the window now, remembering that day on the beach. 'The cold ones settled in Forks a hundred years or so before, and claimed to be different, to resist the blood of humans, to hunt animals instead of people. They made a treaty with these new ones, and lived there in peace.'

Charlie said, in a small voice, exactly what I'd said to Jacob: 'And what are the cold ones?'

Jacob answered from behind me, in a hushed tone. 'Blood drinkers. Your people call them-'

'-Vampires.', I finished softly. Charlie's eyes were frightened now, darting around the room, looking at all of us in what I suspected was an entirely new light. 'But- vampires?'

I let him sort it out for a second. Edward whispered; 'This is how humans should actually react.' I rolled my eyes at him.

Charlie, regaining control now, said 'Vampires?'

'Yes. Vampires.' His mouth was slightly open. 'You're thinking of Dracula right now, aren't you? But Hollywood's version doesn't actually get much right.

Vampires are basically nature's ideal predators. We're fast, strong, and venomous, we have exceptionally sharp senses, our skin is impenetrable, and we are physically attractive to our prey.

Our eyes shift colour, depending on how much blood is in our systems - black for not much, bright red for full of human blood, and light gold for full of animal blood. We also find human food repulsive, run at quite a cold temperature, and we're immortal.'

Charlie started to hyperventilate: Jasper calmed him down again.

'So I'd basically catalogued most of this in my head, so I knew for sure that Edward wasn't human, he was something more. But I didn't know if 'vampire' quite fit.

I went to Seattle that weekend - with Jess and Angela, do you remember? - and when they'd gone for a walk on the bay, I went to look for a bookshop. But I got lost, and then some men started to follow me, herding me into an alley.' Edward hissed; Charlie looked horrified. 'But they were just starting to converge on me when a car came around the corner, stopped, and opened the door for me. It was Edward; he was furious. He seemed to know what they were thinking, and I'd noticed that as well every so often over the preceding weeks. So he took me to dinner, and he admitted to me there that he could hear what everyone was thinking - except for me, the mental mute. He could read minds.' Charlie was staring at Edward now, with an expression resembling someone sucking on a piece of unripe lemon. Thinking about what Edward could hear in his mind, all these years.

'Yes, including that.' Edward said, smiling at a wide-eyed Charlie.

'Other supernatural talents in the Cullen family include visions of the future-' I pointed at Alice - 'influencing the emotions of others-' I pointed at Jasper - '-and a mental shield, which I'll get to the finer points of later.', I said, pointing to myself.

On with the story. 'I kept bugging Edward at dinner with my questions, and when we got into the car on the way back to Forks, he asked me about my new theories as to what he was: I told him, and he confirmed my suspicions; he was a vampire. I told him I wasn't scared of him. And that night, I realised I was certain of three things. One, Edward was a vampire, two, there was a part of him that thirsted for my blood. And three, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.'

Edward smiled.

'So a couple of weeks later, he asked me if my plans to go to Seattle on prom weekend were open to negotiation: vampires aren't burned by the sun, but they need to stay out of it for another reason: he was planning on showing me why. I knew that it was dangerous -' I paused, snapped a piece of the metal bed frame off the bed; Charlie recoiled with a gasp - '-that he could kill me like that-' and pinched the metal into fragments, just like Edward had once done in front of me '- but I knew that I couldn't stay away from him.

So I went, and he took me to a beautiful meadow and showed me what he meant about the sun; it was so beautiful - vampire skin glitters in the sun, you might get to see it if the sun comes up early today.' I looked at Alice; she nodded.

'But while we were in the meadow, I got too close to him, too fast... he nearly killed me there; he came very close, but he didn't. He told me there that the scent of my blood was like his own personal brand of heroin, and every second he was with me, he was having to try unbelievably hard to resist killing me.'

Edward and Charlie were both breathing very shallowly.

'I asked his age when we were heading back; he told me he was born in Chicago, in 1901.' Charlie took a deep breath, staying in control; he'd been prepared for a number like that. 'He was seventeen, and dying of the Spanish flu. His parents had died, and he wasn't far from it himself.' I shuddered. 'But Carlisle, who was two hundred years old at the time and very lonely, decided to create another vampire, a family member of sorts.'

'How?'

'Well, vampires, as I said before, are venomous. The venom doesn't kill, but causes unbelievable amounts of pain, and when left to spread... it takes about three days.'

'Oh.'

'Yes.

So, anyway. Carlisle was created in the 1650s in London; his father was deeply religious and was leading a war against vampires - pitchforks and torches, that kind of thing - and Carlisle actually found a coven of vampires. He organised a stakeout near their dwelling. An ancient vampire, weak with hunger, attacked and bit Carlisle, and then killed two others, leaving Carlisle bleeding in the street. He crawled away and hid himself while he changed.

He isolated himself from humans when he woke up, resisting them - amazing considering he was so young. One day, very weak with thirst, he attacked some deer in the forest. His hunger gone, he resolved to never kill a human, to resist their blood and drink animal blood instead. He began to practise medicine, and did so for two hundred years, give or take, when he became lonely and ended up creating Edward.

After Edward, Carlisle saved Esme; she went off a cliff and she was pretty much dead when Carlisle rescued her. Rosalie was next; she'd been gang-raped and nearly killed by her fiancée-' Rosalie growled - '-and Emmett, who enjoyed wrestling with bears even when he was human, was dying when Carlisle saved him.

Alice and Jasper had different beginnings entirely; Jasper was changed hundreds of years ago by a commander, of sorts, of a newborn vampirea army. Vampires that have a diet of human blood war over the cities where they can hunt frequently without attracting attention, and they war with newborns because they are incredibly strong due to all of the human blood left over in their systems.

Alice was in an asylum because she claimed to see visions of the future; a vampire called Demetri saw her potential and bit her. She saw her future, saw her and Jasper meeting and going to live with the Cullens, so that was what happened.'

Charlie just stared around the room, his face utterly bloodless. He seemed incapable of speech. I couldn't blame him, really; it must be a shock to know all of the in-laws are vampires old enough to be your great-grandparents. I decided to edit out all the tales of Edward in my bedroom at that; it wouldn't be pretty.

'So, the next day, he took me to meet his family, who were heading out to play baseball that evening. I'm sure you remember that.'

Charlie nodded: what I'd said to him that day wasn't something anyone would forget easily.

'Well, while we were there, the Cullens had been playing for a while when some nomadic vampires that had slipped through Alice's visions came onto the field; James, Laurent, and Victoria.' Edward snarled, quite loudly, in response to these names; Charlie looked petrified at the sound. 'James caught my scent, deduced that I was a human – and a vulnerable element protected by a strong group - and he loved that sort of thing. He viewed it as a game, of sorts. And he was a tracker, so he tracked me.'

Charlie shuddered; so did I. 'We had to get away from there, but the first place he would have come looking would have been the house, so we had to lead him away from there. I came up with a plan - to go there and leave so he would follow - and, well, you know what happened. I'm so sorry about what I said to you; I didn't mean any of it. There... there wasn't any other way you'd let me go.'

Charlie just nodded.

'That's okay, Bells. You did come back, after all. I buried that one a long time ago.'

I was happy at that; I had never really stopped feeling guilty about what I'd said to him, how I'd hurt him.

'Thankyou, Charlie. Really.

Well, anyway, we went to Phoenix, and James lured me to a ballet studio where I used to take lessons when I was younger, making me think he had Renee hostage. He started to kill me, very slowly - he bit me - ' Charlie's face had gone very white, and his face was horrified - 'but Edward sucked the venom back out, obviously at great difficulty when it came to the part where he had to stop.

I passed out early on in these proceedings, and woke up in hospital a few weeks later.

I started to badger Edward to bite me after that, have me become a vampire, live forever with him.' I smiled at Edward; I still hadn't quite wrapped my mind around that massive concept. 'But Edward wouldn't budge on that.'

Charlie raised his eyebrows. 'Well, he obviously did at some point.'

Edward nodded and smiled. 'But not for a while.'

I kept going; he'd hear all about that soon.

'I'll get to that later...

Well, a few brilliant months passed, and everything was wonderful. Things continued happily, if not strictly normally, and all was well. Right up until my eighteenth birthday party.'

The whole room, except Charlie, Jacob, and Nessie, winced. They all remembered this.

'I went to the Cullens' for the party, very grudgingly-' Alice rolled her eyes '-and I gave myself a paper cut. Jasper - well, he couldn't resist...' Jasper was staring at the ground, Alice's hand on his shoulder; Edward's face could have been carved from stone. Jacob was trembling slightly, obviously angry; '... and he tried to attack me.

Edward stopped him in time, saw what was going through his head, but he managed to push me onto a pile of crystal plates - and suddenly, there was a lot of blood.

And all the vampires were struggling to resist. It was, well, pretty close... Carlisle bandaged me up, but the whole mess had caused Edward to think that maybe having vampires in my life wasn't healthy.' Jacob snorted. And, as you know, he left me, to try and protect me from him and his family. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what happened in the following months.'

Charlie nodded, deep in the memories - very bad things for Edward to see; I'd been comatose, zombielike, screaming in my sleep... I hastily pulled my shield over Charlie.

Edward looked at me with a tortured expression.

'You came back, that's all that I ever cared about.' I whispered. He leant his head against my side, but he was still obviously not too happy with himself.

'So, a few months passed. I thought the supernatural was gone forever, but it hadn't. Just a different... type. You know that day I went hiking, and saw the wolves?'

Charlie nodded; he'd figured this one out already, thanks to Jacob's very obvious demonstration forty or so years back. Not the sort of thing anyone would forget in a hurry.

'They were the La Push pack; all of them werewolves. All of the boys - and a girl, actually - with the humongous growth spurts - all of them were descended from the ancient La Push spirit-wolf tribe. Werewolves become werewolves in reaction to the presence of their enemies - vampires.

The La Push wolves are all technically shape-shifters, not actually werewolves - no full moon, no silver bullets - and they are fast and strong with extra senses, like vampires. They heal fast - really fast - and run at quite a high temperature. They don't age when they phase often, but they start doing so again when they stop phasing.

Anyway, that day I went hiking and saw the wolves, Laurent came back for me. To the best of the Cullens' knowledge, he had gone to live with a clan similar to ours in Alaska, but Victoria got hold of him and sent him to Forks to kill me. The wolves that had showed up-'

'-made short work of him.' Jacob grinned at the memory.

I rolled my eyes. 'Well, yeah. So I couldn't explain it to myself - wondered why on earth the wolves had chased after the cold, hard vampire instead of me, the easy meat.

And Jacob had started avoiding me; he'd been told by Sam to not be around me, and not to tell me what had happened; it's dangerous for young werewolves because they lose their tempers easily, and when they do, they change into wolves and damage pretty much anything standing near them.' Jacob and Edward winced. 'But I kept badgering him, and he eventually gave me a hint; he'd told me legends of his tribe's descent from werewolves, the time I went to La Push and he told me about vampires: he said that I already knew, and I just guessed it.

So, that morning, I went to La Push. Jacob told me about a new female who was dancing around the pack's borders, trying to get in - Victoria. Who, by the way, was the one killing all the trampers around Forks, not the wolves.

But we were heading back home one night when Jacob smelled a vampire. I saw Carlisle's Mercedes and knew immediately that one of the Cullens had come back. Inside was Alice. I told you about the cliff diving episode? Well, the water was turbulent that day, the currents were too strong fo humans to fight agains. And Alice can't see werewolves. so she didn't see Jacob rescue me. What she saw consisted of me jumping off a cliff and drowning. She immediately thought it had become too much and I'd killed myself.' Edward's eyes were squeezed shut.

'She only came back to do what she could for you; she was pretty surprised to see me alive.

But she'd told all of the Cullens about what she saw, except for Edward. But Rosalie ended up telling Edward, thinking ripping the Band-Aid off quickly, so to speak, would be easier.' Rosalie was staring at the ground, shamefaced.

'He immediately knew he didn't want to live without me, so he went to Italy, to the Volturi.'

'What-' Charlie said, but I was already telling him.

'The Volturi are an ancient vampire family of five - maybe five or six thousand years old - that act as sort of vampire police. Their guard is many and talented, and their job is to basically go and destroy anyone that threatens to expose the vampire world. So, Edward deduced that the fastest way to... die... would be to reveal something superhuman about himself - maybe throw a car through a wall or go on a very public hunting spree - and have them take him down. The only way to stop him doing that, then, would be to go to Italy and show Edward that I was really still alive.'

'So that was where you were,' said Charlie, a bemused expression on her face. 'I was thinking the Continental U.S., at least.'

I smiled. 'Nope. The first time I'd been further east than Albuquerque, and that had to be it.' Edward rolled his eyes.

So, we arrived in Italy just in time to stop Edward, but the Volturi grabbed us and took us down to their lair.' Edward rolled his eyes again; maybe 'lair' was a little too melodramatic. 'Essentially, they saw I was human and knew too much about vampires, and so they gave us a set of options; they killed me, the Cullens killed me, or I became a vampire.'

Charlie was absorbing this amazingly calmly, all things considered. Normal humans would have sprung out of the bed and run a mile by now.

Interesting. Maybe it ran in the family.

'So, the Volturi's ultimatum set a big debate in motion when I came back to Forks; Edward was thoroughly against me changing into a vampire, and I was determined to have exactly that happen.

Seeing as that topic now involved the whole Cullen family, I put it to a vote. In a nutshell, the majority ruled in my favour, and Edward destroyed the new widescreen plasma.'

Emmett shook his head. 'It was so beautiful,' he said in a sad voice. Rosalie elbowed him.

'So, we came to a conclusion: Carlisle would do it after graduation. But Edward made a bargain; if I married him, he would change me himself.'

Charlie groaned. 'Well, I would imagine that would have been met with a certain amount of horror.'

This time, the whole room rolled their eyes.

'Correct. Actually, I thought it was a joke at first-'

'Okay...what's the punchline?' Edward quoted me.

'-which then escalated to a certain amount of hysteria. No was, of course, the answer - at the time. But Edward continued to bug me about it.'

Edward just smiled, leaning back on his chair. Well, he had gotten his way in the end.

'So, anyway, things went back to the good, pre-zombie version of normal.

But there were a few loose ends, so to speak; there was the fact that I'd left Jacob and was under pressure to stay away from him - vampires and werewolves together are a bad idea, and then Edward was worried about the whole temper thing; he was always pretty extreme when it came to keeping me safe. Constantly worrying. It was always pretty annoying, actually; good thing it doesn't happen anymore.'

Edward rolled his eyes.

'And then there was the matter of Victoria. Seattle, a couple of months after everything in Italy, was ravaged by a string of killings; you might remember the headlines. Newborns, as I mentioned earlier, are incredibly strong because of all the human blood left over in their systems, but they are also incredibly bloodthirsty, rash, and temperamental because of that as well. They're basically ruled by thirst for about the first year. And the killings and the circumstances around them all carried these telltale signs of a newborn vampire.'

'Seattle... that was a vampire?' Charlie said, a shocked expression on his face.

'Well, not just one vampire, but I'll get to that. So, a while passed, and I went to La Push every so often to see Jake.' I'd decided to edit the really sensitive Jacob part out as well; I wanted to tell Charlie the truth, but I was too cowardly to tell my father that story in front of everyone involved. Especially Nessie. She knew, of course, but you never want to hear the story of how your mom was once in love with your current lover herself.

Anyway.

'There were other things happening in Forks, too. Someone ransacked my bedroom - they took things with my scent; my pillow, my blouse - and Alice couldn't see them.

And the Cullens had discovered that there was a newborn vampire army in Seattle. The Cullens thought it was an army set to destroy them, as they were a large and powerful coven.

But this army wasn't for that purpose, as I figured out just before graduation. Instead, I thought that the army and the vampire who stole my stuff were together, not after the Cullens, and, later, I thought that Victoria was the one orchestrating all of it.'

'Why was she trying so hard to get to you?' Charlie interrupted.

'She was in love with James. When she found out the Cullens had killed him, specifically Edward, she thought that it would be fair to kill me in vengeance. Mate for mate.

So, before she came, Edward and I did a little negotiating -' - another little edit here, too - '-and we decided that I would marry him, and he would be the one to change me after that.

So, long story short-' - and it needed to be short, there wasn't enough time - 'everyone was fighting, Edward was way away from the action, with me in the tent. But then Victoria showed up outside. She was with an accomplice - Riley. Edward and Seth-'

'Clearwater?'

'Werewolf. Well, ex-werewolf. So, Edward and Seth destroyed the two of them, and after, we went to the clearing where the rest of the fighting was happening.

A vampire, Bree, had surrendered; it was horrifying to watch her. She had these horrible bright red eyes, and she was in pain, like she was being tortured, the whole time I was in the clearing; trying to resist me.

The Volturi showed up again, due to the commotion, and they destroyed her; they don't believe in surrender.

They warned Edward that he needed to change me soon, and, thankfully, left. For a while.'


	6. Chapter 5b

So, a few more months went by, and Edward and I got married, went on the honeymoon... and I got pregnant.'

Charlie raised his eyebrows; his mouth fell slightly open as he watched Nessie. His expression reminded me of when he'd first seen her eyes, his eyes, my old eyes.

'So she's your-'

'Biological daughter, yes. ' I gave him a while to process that as he watched Nessie, amazed with the knowledge that he actually had a biological granddaughter.

Continuing, I said 'No-one ever thought it would be possible - there have never been any other records of male vampires with human females - so it came as a bit of a shock. Well, I say a bit - Edward was staring into space for a good ten minutes after I figured it out and told him.

But, anyway, we went home to the Cullens', and the next few weeks - well, it would rank on the top ten list of 'Most Horrible Pregnancies.' Ness was too big, too strong, and growing too fast; she was taking a lot of blood out of my system. I was in a pretty bad way; everyone was pretty much convinced I was going to die.'

Edward had his lips pressed very tightly together.

'During that time, the wolves had all found out about my pregnancy, and were discussing whether to destroy 'it' or not. Sam was all for an immediate attack. And Jacob, horrified at the thought of killing all of us, split from the pack. He, with Seth and Leah - yes, Leah was a wolf too - broke away from the pack to protect us from Sam.' I turned and smiled at Jacob. I was still very, very grateful for that.

'So, I ended up giving birth a couple of weeks after I'd fallen pregnant, and if I'd tried to stay human the whole way through it, I would have died. I'd lost huge amounts of blood giving birth - it was completely horrible - and I wouldn't have had a chance. But... I didn't plan on surviving it human.'

'So that's how this -' he indicated my new, frozen form - '-happened.'

'Yes. So, anyway... I woke up two days later. I didn't remember anything; I was pretty full of morphine. There was no pain.'

Darn. I could hear the obvious lie in my voice even as I spoke. I'd always been a terrible liar.

Edward was looking at me as though he'd been hit by lightening. Darn. Darn, darn, darn.

Charlie didn't notice; maybe if he'd actually been struck by lightening, he would have come out of his reverie, but otherwise he was so zonked that it was probably all he could do to keep listening.

'So, I woke up - on September 13th.'

Charlie gave a low whistle. 'Your birthday.'

'Yes. And when I opened my eyes, everything was so clear, in focus. I could and can see, hear, smell, feel, even taste everything, all the scents in the air - everything, absolutely everything. It was a whole new world, and it was, is, so beautiful.

I was really thirsty, but everyone was - confused, I guess - as to why I was so in control of myself, my emotions. And when Edward and I went for our first hunt, I caught the scent of some humans that were out hunting themselves.

It's hard to tell you what catching the scent of human blood is like to a vampire. It's the most delicious, overwhelming scent; on the hunt, unless you have huge amounts of self-control, you give in. And for newborns, there is no resisting; they have pretty much no powers of resistance.'

Charlie looked shocked, frightened, horrified. 'Bella, you don't mean - you didn't-'

'Well... I would have. I should have. But I didn't. Edward ran up behind me, I turned around - then I somehow got a hold of what I was doing, held my breath... and ran away.'

Charlie breathed a very loud sigh of relief.

'We still haven't figured out why I was so controlled; whether it was because I didn't have that much human blood left over in me, whether I knew what to expect and rose to the occasion, even whether it was my human aversion to blood that made me so - resistant. Maybe a combination of the three.

Anyway, I didn't kill them, and so I wanted to see my new daughter. It would have been too dangerous - she's half human, after all - but I thought I could handle it, and I did. She showed me - well, she's got a special ability, just like Edward and Alice. She can touch you and show you what's in her head at that very moment. Memories, thoughts... dreams. They're especially beautiful.'

Nessie blushed slightly, but moved closer to Charlie and touched his arm. She wanted to show him what I would recount next.

'So, Jacob was being excessively pushy and overprotective of her, and I couldn't figure out why. Heck, I couldn't even figure out why he was there at all. I was the enemy now; I'd hurt him badly. By all rights, he should have been a million miles away at that point.'

Jacob smiled.

'But he wasn't, he was there, and I was puzzling over why - and then it clicked.

Imprinting is a funny werewolf thing; it's like when you see someone, your other half, and gravity moves. That person becomes everything to you. The imprintees usually end up partnered with the imprintors, bonded for life; it's hard to resist that level of love and adoration.

And Jacob had imprinted on Nessie.

I was quite furious: here I was, didn't even know my three-day-old daughter, and Jacob had some 'moronic wolfy claim' to her already. He was so... almost possessive of her, as well. I got pretty wild over it, actually; Nessie will show you. Be prepared.'

Charlie gasped in shock and was tense the entire time Nessie showed him her memory: Edward, however, chuckled from beside me.

'Wow.'

'Yeah.'

He shook his head and looked at Nessie in shock.

She smiled 'Yep. It's the sort of thing that's quite convenient, really. Saves a lot of time when you want to explain things.'

The whole room burst out laughing. Between chuckles, I kept going. Almost there.

'So, anyway, I'd busted Seth's collarbone, but all was well besides.

A couple of days later, Jacob overheard us discussing our move to a new town; the Cullens were too conspicuous and I needed to get out of Forks, so that no-one tried to contact me.' I looked at the floor as I said this. 'But Jacob, taking matters into his own hands -' my tone became piercingly acidic for a second - '-decided to... well, you remember. The problem here-' - I was still staring at the floor - '-was that I was still a newborn, and Jacob had made it so that seeing you was going to be only the second time I'd ever been near human blood. I could have killed you, so easily. I still haven't quite forgiven him for making that a very real possibility.' Charlie was now covered in a light, glistening sheen of sweat, and Jacob looked very contrite. Good.

'So, the entire time, I was basically trying to be a statue, trying to the ends of my limits to not – well, kill you. It was very, very hard. Vampires don't need to breathe, and I wasn't breathing that entire time.'

Charlie's breathing was none too normal, actually. I gave him a minute to compose himself before continuing.

'But it all worked out, and I was glad that you could be a part of my life. I never really stopped feeling that.' I wasn't looking at the floor anymore, but directly into my father's eyes. 'And so, you knew all that you could have under the circumstances, and we went along like that.

I was living in pretty much a state of bliss for months, and everything was working out pretty well.

There were two things bugging us, however. The first was Nessie's abnormally fast growth; no-one in the Cullen household had any trouble with the maths of it. If the growth rate she was going at stayed constant, we were looking at Nessie only living for fifteen years.

And then there were the Volturi. I received a necklace from their leader, Aro - containing some of the Crown jewels, no less - saying that he'd love to meet the new Mrs. Cullen in person; we all knew what that meant. I needed to go to Italy and prove to them that I wasn't a threat to vampire secrecy anymore. Of course, this meant I would have to go alone, because Aro has a gift like Edward's; but, unlike Edward, he can see every thought your mind has ever had. Nessie was a secret to protect, because who knew what would happen if the Volturi found out about her? My mind is the only one Aro can't read, so I had to go alone. But it was still very risky.

But one day, when we were out hunting, a vampire called Irina came and saw Jacob, Nessie, and I hunting. Irina had lost her mother because her mother had created an immortal child; a child that has been turned into a vampire, but can't restrain themselves and can't be taught how to stay hidden. They've left many deep scars in the collective vampire psyche. So, when Irina came, she saw a small child that was clearly more than human. She jumped to the conclusion that Ness was an immortal child, and went to tell the Volturi, who have made it a mission of theirs to wipe out all immortal children and those that create and protect them.'

Charlie, wide-eyed, just stared at Nessie.

'And, a couple of days later, Alice saw the Volturi coming; she deserted us immediately with Jasper, leaving us with the impression that there was no way we were going to win when the Volturi came for us: they only came to destroy us and perhaps acquire those of us that had desirable gifts.

We only learned later that, actually, she was only leaving to create an illusion of our loss, so Aro would be fooled into thinking he would win.

So the next few weeks mainly consisted of us preparing for the Volturi's advance. We needed as many vampire witnesses as we could, so that maybe the Volturi would stop and listen to us instead of just destroying us straight away. Listen to our accounts of her growing and learning, so wasn't a threat. We showed Ness to them as they arrived, and-'

I broke off; Nessie would be showing Charlie what their reactions were first-hand.

Nessie smiled knowingly. 'They didn't understand at all.'

'No, they didn't,' I said, smiling back at her. 'But in the end, they all agreed to stand with us, some to fight with us if it got that far. The house was so packed, it only really worked because nobody needed sleep.

It was a rough few weeks, waiting for the Volturi to come. For me, it basically consisted of trying to learn how to fight vampire-style, worrying myself sick about Alice, welcoming all of the extra vampires into the household, and practising manipulating my shield - Eleazar, a vampire with a gift for guessing talents, had figured out my mental silence while I was human had morphed into a mental shield that could be extended to others.

So, the Volturi came. They stopped and listened to us, and Carlisle got Aro to examine Edward before attacking. He learned that Nessie wasn't fully vampire and that she didn't pose a threat, so that was a huge relief.' Nessie was feeding pictures to Charlie of the scene again, I suspected. 'I also figured out how to manage my shield, there and then, protecting us from all of the talents they could have used to sway us, to make us complacent so that we would be easy to destroy if the need arose.

But the next problem was the future; how could they know Nessie wasn't going to be a risk later on, even if she wasn't right now? They voted on it; to come back in a few years, or to destroy us all there and then?

Just before Aro cast the deciding vote, Alice arrived. Not a moment too soon, either.' Alice smiled; so did Jasper. 'She brought with her another vampire-human hybrid like Nessie, who had slowly decreased in his rate of growth before finally stopping at seventeen and staying there for what was presumably going to be forever, and who was fine in terms of self-control.

So the Volturi left, finding nothing to incriminate us, and came back twenty years later to check all was well, which it was. They left us in peace, and we've all had completely perfect lives since then. We moved to New Hampshire after Forks, then a couple of other sunless places; that's the main criterion. I've pretended to be a college student, then a junior again, then a nurse at the hospital, then Esme's sister... the list goes on. It's been a wonderful life, existence, whatever.

And that's the end of the story so far, I guess.'

Charlie just sat there, staring out the window, for a good fifteen minutes before saying anything. I considered doing something to snap him out of it, but Edward squeezed my wrist and murmured; 'Give him time.'

So I did, and he came around.

'Wow. Well, that was nowhere near what I was expecting.'

I laughed. 'And what was the sort of thing you were expecting?'

'I don't know... bitten by a radioactive spider, maybe?'

Edward and I burst out laughing; everyone did, but we were the loudest. They all looked at us in confusion.

'That was my first theory about Edward,' I explained. 'By the way, kryptonite doesn't bother me either.'

We all laughed again, but once that had passed, we lapsed into thoughtful silence again.

Charlie broke it. 'The thing I don't understand, though...' He seemed unable to finish. 'Why.. why are you telling me this now? I mean, the Volturi would prevent you from saying anything unless I was pretty much on my deathbed, and the doctors are all telling me I'll be out of here by tomorrow.'

I couldn't look at him; I didn't think anyone else would be able to either. And when I looked up, I saw that I was right. Everyone was avoiding his gaze.

Alice said, in a very gentle and sad voice, said 'No, Charlie, you won't. I saw, during Sue's birthday party, you having a heart attack and being admitted to hospital. Then, at nine o'clock today, you'll have... you'll have another, totally unexpected heart attack. And it will be fatal.

I'm so sorry; the truth is that you only have about two hours to live.'

"So you're only telling me because I'm going to die anyway?"

I flinched. "Yes."

Charlie looked at her. And then, slowly, it started to hit him. Everything we'd said. What was going to happen. And he started to cry, racking sobs that shuddered along his old, feeble body. It was one of the most heartbreaking sights I'd ever seen.

Nessie reached her arms around him and hugged him, and he hugged her back with all his meagre strength, clinging to her like a dying man. I walked forward and hugged him, too, and after a few minutes, the whole of the Cullen family was standing by him, holding his hand, hugging him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

It took him a while, an hour and thirty-eight minutes to be precise, to calm down. I'd never thought I'd ever see my father, a man who didn't really ever show emotion all that well, fall to pieces like that.

But he was back now.

'Gosh, sorry.', he said, after he was back to normal.

I smiled weakly. 'Why are you apologising? I'm the one who's been dropping all these surprises onto you. I'm so sorry that I'm only telling you now...

Do you think, after hearing it, that it's better I told you?'

He considered that for a moment. 'I think so. I mean, it's not the sort of thing I'd have wanted to know all my life, I think, but it's good that I know now. I always wondered, and it's nice to know the story behind all the secrecy in the past forty years. I mean, I have a wonderful family in all of you, and I know that you're all going to live, happy, forever. I needed to know that you were all happy, especially Bella and Ness. And now I do. So thanks, I guess.'

I walked towards him and hugged him as tightly as was practical.

And it finally hit me. This was the last time I was ever going to see my father. A few years later than originally thought, but the time had come to say goodbye to him.

This was it.


	7. Chapter 6

Feeling the weight of this revelation press down on my shoulders, I whispered in his ear; 'I'll always love you, Dad. Always. Forever.'

He smiled back at me; the crinkly-eyed smile I would miss so much. 'Love you too, Bells. I won't live forever, but I'll love you forever, too.'

I was crying now, myself. 'I'll never forget you.'

Tears were running down his cheeks, spilling onto my cold face. 'I know.'

We stayed like that. Just crying, hugging.

Charlie touched my face. 'It'll all be all right, Bella. You'll have a beautiful life, I know you will. Go and live it, okay?'

I took a deep breath, stepped back.

'Yes, Dad. I will.'

And then the sun rose, filling the room with the pale sunlight of dawn. Charlie watched in amazement at the beautiful sparkles glittering across our skin and reflecting all over the room.

I whispered, after a minute or two: 'Everyone has to go now; Sue and Seth will be coming soon, so will all the nurses doing their rounds, and we sort of resemble disco balls. We can't stay. Same for the funeral; people will recognise the ageless Cullens. So, this is really time to say goodbye for the Cullen family.'

Charlie nodded. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Jacob, Nessie, and Edward all organised themselves into a sort of line. They all hugged Charlie goodbye, each telling him that they all loved him, how much they were going to miss him... he would reply with a smile and thankyou, and a wish that they would all have happy, wonderful lives...

Alice, who Charlie always had had a soft spot for, hugged him extra-tight and kissed him on the cheek.

'Take care of yourself.' said Charlie.

'Oh, don't worry about me. I can take good care of myself.' They smiled at one another, and she danced back into the corner.

It was Jacob's turn.

'Werewolf, huh?' said Charlie. 'Well, I'd never stopped being glad that that was the only reason you took your clothes off that day.'

We all sort of made humorous sputtering noises; we were all crying to hard for those noises to actually qualify as laughter.

Nessie lay down next to Charlie on the hospital bed, her arms around him, for a long moment. 'I'm going to miss you so much, Grampa. Possibly the only thing I won't miss is your cooking.'

We all sputtered again.

Jacob said; 'No, I'll miss that, too. Its results were always pretty entertaining.'

Charlie sighed, giving us a slight sarcastic expression. More sputtering.

Nessie, after her goodbye, took a deep breath, took in everything about her grandfather, just like I had. Then, without warning, she jumped off the bed and stood beside Jacob again.

Edward's turn; he took Charlie's hand. 'Charlie, I don't think I could ever express how much gratitude I feel towards you. Without you, there would never have been Bella. She would never have come to Forks... Your daughter is my reason for being, and I will never be able to use words to adequately convey how grateful I feel towards you.

You are an amazing man, and an incredible father. Wherever you go after this morning, I hope it's a place as wonderful as you are, as you have been to everyone I love.'

Charlie nodded. 'Thankyou, Edward. I don't quite know how to say this, but basically I am happy that Bella is so happy, because of you. That wasn't always the case - sounds like you let her through quite a few thistly patches -' Edward laughed - '-but, basically, I know you love her and you make her happy. So, thankyou.'

Edward smiled, and shook Charlie's hand, embracing him. He returned to where he was standing, beside the window.

I turned to the room in general. 'Do you all mind if I say my goodbye alone?'

Alice shut her eyes for a second, looking for the future. 'No, of course we don't mind, but keep it short. Sue's coming early, maybe in about ten minutes; she's worried.'

'Of course.'

Charlie and I watched as everyone - taking long last looks and giving small last-minute waves - jumped out of the fifth-storey window, landing without so much as a whisper on the concrete below.

I turned to him, and I was crying again.

'Oh, Dad...' What could I say? What do you say to your own father when you've told him what I just had, after so many years of secrets?

What can you say?

The most important thing.

'I love you, Dad, so much. I'll never forget you... there will never be a day when I don't...'

He took my hand and stared into my eyes.

'Bells, Bella... Isabella. Isabella Marie Cullen. I love you more than life, and I will always be with you. Always. I will never stop loving you.'

All the fear of expressing emotion was long gone, obviously.

'But, when I'm gone, please don't think about me all the time. You're going to live forever; I don't want you to carry that burden. Once in a while, maybe, think of me. But not every second. Life is still too short, even for you.'

I laughed tearily.

'Bella, don't be sad. Be happy, okay? Live and be happy. That's all I ever wanted for you. Besides... it's only right that the children should outlive their parents. The fact that you're not human anymore doesn't change that.

Promise me.'

I nodded, once, heavily.

'I promise.'

'Then I'll be happy...' He shut his eyes, lazily, and opened them again. 'You need to go.'

'I don't want to.'

'I know, but time is running short.'

I smiled; he wanted to see me happy, so in these final moments, that was what I'd be. I kissed him, and moved away from his arms to the window. I saw his face for one last time, in the morning glow, glittering as it was lit up by my skin, smiling radiantly... memorizing, just as Nessie had...

'Love you forever, Dad.'

'Love you forever, Bells.'

I looked one last time, just a quick sideways smile, and then jumped out of the window, running before I'd even hit the ground. Away, just away from that room; I'd fall apart at the seams if I stayed within a hundred miles of it. Besides, the clock was ticking; Sue would be arriving. And Charlie had forty-three minutes left...


	8. Chapter 7

CHARLIE'S POV

I stared out the window, marvelling. Everything, now, was so surreal.

I was going to die.

I didn't expect, didn't anticipate that that was the reason Bella had told me. Maybe different circumstances, new ideas, whatever authority she answered to saying yes to me knowing.

But the fact that I was going to die anyway hadn't crossed my mind, though it probably should have. The doctors had been so sure, it was only minor, in and out, routine.

But Alice, I suspected, was the one to listen to in this sort of situation.

I sat, marvelling, wondering - and composing myself. Sue, Seth, Leah, Alicia... I had to say goodbye to everyone I loved, and that included all of them, too. And that was something that couldn't be done properly if I was in this state when they all walked in.

So I breathed, slowly, and thought.

I admired everything that made me happy. Everything that was beautiful. My daughters, granddaughter, wife. Nature. The sun was shining today - very rare for Forks - illuminating all of the beautiful green trees, the moss, the long grass. The people outside. Just some of what I'd not really seen, when I hadn't stopped and smelled the roses. There were two young girls, no older than eight, playing on the swings in the park outside, laughing, enjoying the sunny day. Their parents' faces were alive with joy, reflecting their children's. So astounding, a child's joy. A child's laugh. I'd only rarely heard that sound with Bella, who had been a somewhat quiet child, although I'd heard it plenty with Alicia.

I thought over my life, and all the things had happened in it. I thought about my memories - marrying Renee, bringing Bella home, all the childhood memories of her summer holidays, the secrecy when she met the Cullens, when she was so depressed after he left... the day she got married, the day I first saw her as a vampire, saw Nessie. Meeting Sue, having another beautiful daughter with her, realising I was so blessed to have so many people in my family. Seeing everything in my life hum along, so happy, after everything had died down. Hearing Bella's story, the full story, not an hour ago. Being told that my heartbeats, essentially, were severely limited.

I also wondered about what was coming, what was going to happen in - I checked the clock - less than half an hour's time. Not the heart attack, of course - that was pretty straightforward - but what would happen after. After I died.

I wondered about God. I sort of considered myself a Lutheran - that was what my parents were - but I'd never really followed the whole religion path. I hadn't gone to church in almost fifty years, I realised, amazed.

So was that right - heaven, hell, the Pearly Gates and St. Peter? Or, at the other end of the scale, was there nothing?

I didn't pray, just wondered.

There was so much to think about in the twenty minutes that I had to myself that I never came to a conclusion, aside from that I'd know soon. I didn't actually think I wanted to, but it wasn't like I had a choice.

After that twenty minutes passed, and the surreal tone of every second was no less potent but a little more manageable, there was a knock on the door and Sue entered. My eyes raked over her face, like I'd seen the Cullens doing with me, knowing my time left to see it was short.

'Hi. How are you feeling?'

Well, the answer to that would be exceedingly long and complicated, so I just decided to lie.

'Fine. Pretty good, actually. Looking forward to getting out of here.' Not that that was going to happen.

'Are you sure you're 100 percent, honey? You look a little bit peaky.'

Unsurprising. 'I couldn't sleep, but it was nothing. No pain or anything, just thinking.'

She frowned. 'Well, don't, okay? You need your sleep more than you need to think right now. Dr. Francis was quite strict about it, you know that.'

That was the least of my worries right now. 'Okay, okay. Hey, are all of the kids coming to see me today?'

She rolled her eyes. 'Yes, Seth and Leah were in their car, right behind me, they'll be here in two ticks. Seth's family and Alicia'll be here soon as well; they'll all be huddled around your sickbed in about five minutes. Not Bella And Co., however. I haven't heard from them since you were admitted, I don't actually know what's happened to them. Hope they're alright.'

Well, for once, I knew all about what had happened to the Cullens. And I knew they all were fine. Depending on your definition of fine.

'They should be fine, Sue. They came for a visit yesterday, actually, when you weren't here. And they've all got things to do. I'm sure they'll come later on.'

She shook her head. 'Well, I didn't know that, you should have told me! I was worried.'

I was preparing to make some sort of elusive excuse, but at that moment, Seth and Leah walked in. Seth looked very sad; they'd told him, then.

'Hi, you two.'

'Hi, Charlie.' They'd never called me Dad, and that was fair enough. I frequently got the impression that even Bella would have called me Charlie if her mother hadn't forbidden it.

They huddled around my sickbed; I laughed.

Sue shook her head. 'Perfect. Nice formation.' They grinned. 'Now, I need to go and see Dr. Francis, get some pills, and see if we can't fill out some discharge forms.' She smiled. 'I'll be back in five minutes.'

Perfect. I could talk frankly with Seth and Leah, who knew the full story.

I turned to them after she'd left. 'I know everything; they came and told me all of it last night.'

Seth nodded sombrely, looking like he was about to cry. 'Must have come as a bit of a shock.'

'I'm getting the impression here that there was more to that comment than the whole leech thing - I was wondering why it smelled so bad in here.', said Leah, ever brash, but nicer about it now.

I turned to her. Make it short and sharp, Charlie, your time's running short. 'Yep. Alice saw that I was going to have an unexpected, violent heart attack in about fifteen minutes, and it'll be the end of me.'

It was like I'd punched her. 'No... oh, no... oh, Charlie...' She seemed at a massive loss for words; couldn't blame her, either. She grasped my hand tightly. 'I'm so sorry.'

'Don't be; it's not like you're responsible.' She smiled, just a little.

'How do you feel?' Seth asked me.

This one I could answer truthfully. 'I'm not sure; everything has become so surreal. I've been doing a lot of thinking, saying a lot of goodbyes... it's just drawing to a close so quickly, I'm not sure quite how to react. I feel quite accepting, though. And I'm going to have a chance to say goodbye to anyone; that's something.

So... I've been saying plenty of goodbyes this morning, and I'm going to give you yours now, seeing as it'll be the only opportunity to do it.' They nodded. 'But, first; when I go - tell them to not try to save me, okay?'

Grimaces from both of them, but accepting grimaces, and nods.

'Okay. So Seth, I just want to say that I've always thought of you as a sort of son, in a way. I know I never was your blood father, and that's fine, but I just want you to know that I do love you, and Hazel and Catherine are so beautiful; Harry would have been so proud of you. I'm so proud to be related to you in they way I am. I couldn't think of a better stepson.'

Tears started to stream down his face, but he smiled and hugged me. It was a much warmer hug than those I'd received during the night.

And Leah; I think of you as a sort-of daughter, as well. You're such an amazing woman; I love the way you always speak your mind, and I'm so happy that you're so happy with Andre. You're going to have a great life with him, I know you are; I'm just sorry I'm not going to be there to see it.

I want you to know that I love you, as well, and I'm so, so proud of you.'

She nodded; she was crying, too. She joined Seth in hugging me, and we sat there for a minute before Seth, a bit more composed, stood up suddenly.

'Mum's coming!'

Seth had to wipe his eyes but looked instantly fine when he had done so, but Leah dived for the bathroom; there was no way she could face her mother in the state she was in without arousing questions.

Sue entered, flanked by Alicia and Seth's family. I smiled widely at them, and we sat down, engaging in some casual conversation for five minutes, which I was constantly reminding myself I needed to stop, but I couldn't... it was another beautiful thing, this family of mine, so relaxed and comfortable. This was how I wanted to see them in my final minutes; this was surely how they needed to remember me.

But the matter of a goodbye, albeit a masked goodbye, was more pressing. So, five minutes out, I cleared my throat and sat up.

'Look, everyone... what I'm going to say will sound crazy, but don't interrupt, okay? I need to tell you all this.'

They all looked curious, aside from Seth and Leah, who looked like they were grieving already.

'Okay...?' Sue said. More of a question than a statement.

I took a deep breath, and said, slowly, pausing often; 'I just want to tell you that should anything happen to me-' - Sue looked like she was itching to cut in, but didn't - '-I just want you to know how much I love you all, and how I happy I am that all of you are in my life - it's so wonderfully rich because all of you, and I thank you all for that. I couldn't dream up a better family to have if I tried. Everything's so varied, so beautiful, so wonderful. I've had an amazing life, and I don't regret anything. I'll love you all forever, I promise.'

There was a long, heavy silence that almost visibly pressed upon everyone in the room.

Sue, slightly confused but totally sure of what she was going to say, said; 'But, Charlie, dear, everything is going to be fine. I promise you, it really is.'

I smiled at her. 'No, it isn't.'

She opened her mouth, but Seth spoke before she could.

'I love you, Dad.'

Leah nodded, starting to cry again. 'I love you, Dad.'

Hannah said, with a confused frown but following her husband's lead; 'I love you, Charlie. You've been an amazing father-in law. Thankyou.'

Hazel and Catherine, taking my hands, said 'Love you, Grampa.'

Alicia looked at me, so beautiful, very swept up in the atmosphere - crying but not quite sure why. 'I love you, Dad.' And looking like she didn't know why she was saying it, she then said 'I'll miss you.'

Sue looked at me; her beautiful face confused but full of love; love that had brought me much-needed stability over the years, and so much happiness. We'd had a small existence in this huge world, but a perfect one. So much love.

'I love you, Charlie.'

I nodded, then said a quick mental prayer, not for myself, but for them. Dear God, may everyone here, and all of the Cullens too, move on, let me go, and have beautiful happy lives. Amen.

It was coming, I could feel it. Eight more words left.

'I love you all, so much. Thank... you.'

There was a sudden pain in my chest, and then everything went black.


	9. Chapter 8

BELLA'S POV, A WEEK LATER

I was sitting at the computer, not actually using it, but tapping the keys rhythmically as I stared out of the window, thinking about Charlie; it was his funeral today. Today also marked fifty-two years since my parents' wedding day.

I still hadn't quite got my head above the ocean of grief, but I was healing. Slowly but surely.

I was thinking about Charlie and Renee. Renee, who hadn't seen me in so long. Charlie, who would right now be in a coffin, in church, lifeless, still...

It was too much for me to bear, to create the mental image, so I focused on the two of them as I remembered them, before I'd changed: all of the cloudy but beautiful human memories...

A sudden thought hit me. I booted up the computer, and scouted about on the Internet until I found what I was looking for. I printed it out, then flitted over to the piano, where Edward had just sat down.

In a hesitant voice, I handed him the sheets of paper. 'Edward... would you play this for me?'

He gave me a long, searching look.

'Of course, Bella.'

I walked across to the window and sat down, watching the trees stir lightly in the gentle breeze, wondering where Charlie was now, what had happened in his final moments.

The music started. Debussy's Clare De Lune. Warm, lazy days in Phoenix, with Renee...

I was caught up in every single memory of my parents, everything.

Most of it was murky, of course, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that I remembered my parents, everything about them, everything we'd been through together. The time Mom and I both scraped our knees and bandaged each other's legs up. The time Charlie had tried to teach me how to ride a bike. The beauty of Mom's face, her expression, almost juvenile in its simplicity, but piercing in its perceptiveness. The way Dad had cried a week ago, when we'd told him he was going to die...

For five minutes, all of this, and so much more, filled up every sense I had; all I could hear near the end of it was their voices, all I could see was their faces.

And then the music stopped.

It was only then I realised I'd been crying; I was brought back to awareness mid-sob. I was filled with sadness and grief, but a measure of peace that had nothing to do with Jasper was spreading from the tips of my toes, right up to my face, where it manifested itself as a huge smile. I'd pulled myself above the ocean of grief; I'd found a ship to sail over it with. This. Every year, I would listen to the beautiful music my mother and I had loved, and I would remember them. Not to keep the memories from fading, although that was good too, but as a way to acknowledge my love for them; a tribute to their beautiful selves, their wonderful lives.

I kissed Edward, and the ship cranked up to full speed and started sailing towards the horizon of our forever.

THE END


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